Numbershot 22: Infernal Flames
by Forestfleet
Summary: Sequel to Numbershot 66. After Ariel's incident, Shark becomes unreliable, and with a crazed murderer on the loose, only Kaito, Jenaveve, and Spade can put a stop to them and find a mysterious Number. However, could this mission just be their deadliest one yet? Written with permission from VileEXE, my second Numbershot in total.
1. Chapter 1

Author's notes: Probably didn't expect me to get this story up so quickly. Anyway, it's my birthday, so yeah. The one who writes a review for either Numbershot 66 or 22 will forever hold my favor.

The first couple of chapters won't be containing a duel, so these next few chapters will probably be pretty easy for me to write out.

* * *

Shark looked at Ariel who was in bed. A hospital bed more precisely. Multiple IVs were in her, supplying necessary life support while she slept. Shark, meanwhile, sat in a chair, looking directly at her. He was questioning many things. All he knew now was that she might've been a killer. He knew she was out of it those past few days, but he didn't expect her to snap quite like that.

Suddenly, a purple crow alighted upon a tree branch before looking through the window. Truth be told, Yata-Garasu was rather displeased at the fact they were left behind by the others, but at least they found them. Yata-Garasu began tapping on the window with their beak, trying to grab someone's attention.

However, entering the room was Kaito. "Shark," Kaito said, "it's time to go now. We found another Number."

Shark said, "Go on without me..."

"You can't let what happened with Ariel affect you. It's not good-"

"LEAVE!" Shark shouted.

Kaito frowned. Still, he couldn't force Shark into anything. If he wanted to be a liability, that was his own problem. After a few seconds of debating, Kaito said, "Very well then." He then turned to walk away.

* * *

"The Kestrel Plane? Really? Of all the made-up words I've heard..." The teenager shook his head.

"Look, I swear it's true, really!" The man pleaded, staring at the barrel of the gun in front of his face.

"I already know the place your boss hails from is the Barian World!"

"Then... then why did you ask?"

"To see if you would actually tell me the truth about certain things. Now who can I turn to to learn more about the twin chaoses of the Astral World?"

"Whoever! Just please don't kill me!" The man begged.

He sighed. "I'm sorry, but you're not worthy of having me kill you! That will be Nanius' job!"

"Who's Nanius?" The man whimpered.

The teenage boy smirked and chuckled.

"Behind you."

The man stood up and looked behind himself. Then there was a bloodcurdling scream.

* * *

The news was on and Akari was listening intently in on what was happening.

"Apparently, a man was defenestrated and ripped limb from limb. We don't know who did it, and police so far have no leads. Seven deaths have occurred this week alone. The only pattern found was that they all had a business card that had N.D. imprinted on it," The news broadcaster said.

"N.D.? Number Distributor?" Kotori asked.

"Maybe they're an ally if that's the case," Astral said.

Kotori shook her head. "Even if they are an ally, they're the worst kind of ally."

Spade smirked. "I bet you I can easily found out who did this and bring them to justice!"

"And get yourself killed!?" Akari asked. "Not gonna happen!"

"Relax, babe. For one, I don't associate with 'N.D.', and for two, I bet this guy can't match my speed!"

"Spade!" Akari said. "This is dangerous!"

"And day-to-day life isn't?" Spade pointed out. "Think about it, the Number Distributor's probably much more dangerous than any other madman we meet frequently. Also, I have to keep you safe. And I need to check this guy out. If he's hunting for N.D. members, he might have something to do with the Numbers."

"We're not even sure if N.D. has anything to do with the Number Distributor, or if it's just a coincidence," Kaito pointed out. "If you get killed, it might be for nothing."

Spade shook his head. "Think about it; what other things are in our life that have the initials N.D. on them? Plus, if you look closely at the sites on the reports _they're all locations we've met the Distributor before_."

That took the others by surprise as they thought about it. Plus they couldn't think of any nearby companies with the name of N.D. nearby.

"Fine." Akari sighed. "But if you get in trouble, a crazy murderer will be the _least_ of your worries."

"Don't worry, everything's going to be alright," Spade assured her.

"Come with Jen and I. Both of us are going to a site where we believe there is a Number. We'll be much safer in a group, and if this guy really does have something to do with the Numbers, we'll find him there."

Yuma asked, "Even if you guys know where a Number is, would the other guy?"

Kaito nodded. "The presence of this particular is much stronger than I thought was possible. Even rudimentary Number tracking systems would probably be very good at finding it."

"Alright, let's find this scumbag and bring him to justice!" Spade said with a cocky grin.

Jenaveve said, "Let's be careful this time." Everyone nodded in agreement.

Yuma said, "I'm coming along too!"

"No you're not!" Akari said. "I already have a chance of losing Spade! I don't want to lose you too!"

Yuma opened his mouth in protest, only for Kaito to say, "Don't worry, Yuma, we'll handle this."

"And what about Shark?" Kotori asked.

Kaito shook his head with a frown. "He's still in the hospital with Ariel. Rio's too busy with other things right now, and you better believe I'm not letting Haruto anywhere near something like this."

"Alright then. Just you, Jen, and me," Spade said with a nod.

"The sooner we get this done, the better," Jenaveve said. The group of three nodded before they walked (or ran) off.

* * *

The murderer sighed as he looked around the warehouse. "This Number's energy signature is just so powerful. Do you agree, Nanius?" He got no response, making him whip his head around. "Nanius? Nanius?" He grunted. "Random disappearances. Not a good sign, ever." Suddenly, his eyes widened. Quickly, he walked towards a window and looked down. Approaching the warehouse were three people. Each, he sensed, had lots of Numbers...

* * *

Author's notes: So yeah, this Numbershot might be slightly darker than my last one, but it will probably also be funnier, rest assured. I think this Numbershot as a whole will probably be much more full of twists than Numbershot 66 was. Note, the first scene will be much more important later on than it is right now.

Also, sorry this chapter's so short. It has a lot of set-up.

If you want to know how to pronounce Nanius, it's Nan (like nanny) then there's a long e sound, then finally it ends with "us" like the word. So Nan-e-us.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's notes: Unfortunately, these chapters didn't come earlier. However, I still consider it a Christmas fic of sorts due to its timing and place.

Anyway, thank you reviewers for your reviews, I hope this chapter pleases you as well.

* * *

The woman entered the warehouse, looking around the place which was abandoned by practically everything except rats.

An intensely powerful Number signal emanated from the place. Suddenly, a man behind her said with a smirk, "So, another Numbers holder. Well, I can't wait to take your Numbers!"

The woman turned around. A red Number 22 blazed on her neck. The man held up a card that glowed blue. On his forehead was the number "97".

"You hold my master's Number- or at least a fragment of it," she said. "I will not end up like Goldnarch! I will crush you!"

"I don't know who Goldnarch or who your boss is, but they've got nothing on me!" The numbers holder said. They both activated their duel disks.

"Duel!" they both shouted.

* * *

"I don't trust this place, Kaito," Jenaveve said. Each creeping shadow behind every box contained a monster - or, at least, it did in her mind which feared for the worse at around every corner. At some points she had to do a double take to assure herself there was nothing in the darkness. The dark couldn't hurt her, could it?

Spade, however, sauntered around as if the place was as clear as day. "Oh, nothing bad's here probably. Just a number, a murderer-"

"Spade!" Kaito shouted. "Not helping!"

Spade chuckled. "Fine, fine, I'll stop..." A little while later, Spade asked, "Uh, guys, did you hear something?"

"Nice try, Spade." Jenaveve rolled her eyes.

Spade's face creased with worry. "No, I mean it, did you guys hear something?"

Kaito shrugged. "Not really."

"Listen closer," Spade said. They did and they all began hearing thumping and footsteps above their heads.

Everyone's eyes widened. "Guys, keep quiet," Kaito whispered. "Also, keep low and hidden. If I say run, then run and don't stop for anything."

"I wouldn't stop in the first place," Spade said. However, he made no cocky remarks. Then he squinted at the shadows behind an abnormally large crate. He could've sworn the shadows were actually moving. Something had to have been moving.

"Guys, what's that?" Spade asked, pointed towards the shadows.

"Maybe they're just flies," Jenaveve said, hoping she was right.

However, the flies suddenly started coming together and forming a shape. Roughly, it became the outline of a human. The trio was paralyzed with fear, even Spade, before Kaito suddenly shouted, "Run!"

The three all took off in different directions. Spade went back to where they came from, while Kaito went left and Jenaveve went right. Obviously, they never learned why not to split up.

Jenaveve looked back and noticed she was being followed, but not by a human anymore. It was a wolf constructed by the flies. Dark aura escaped its general outline. The wolf was made mostly of shadows. Jenaveve gasped. She couldn't outrun a wolf!

Kaito's situation looked the brightest. Right now he was the only one in the clear. Spade, however, halted when he found himself in an alien area of the place, not that most of it wasn't unknown, but still.

Before him was a duel, and he saw Armageddon Knight being absolutely consumed by flames due to an attack from a being made entirely of fire. He watched as the other person's life points went from three-hundred all the way down to zero.

Lois: *Win*

Arthur: 0

"And I won with 2200 life points. How disgraceful! Nearly half of my life points taken off by this idiot!" A blue rectangular object shot out of the fallen person's chest. Spade recognized it as one-fifth of a card. Another fifth of a glowing blue card shot out of Lois' chest before they both combined into a card that was a little under half a card, or more precisely two-fifths of a card.

Spade mustered up his courage once again before raising his voice and asking Lois, "Are you the murderer!?"

Lois' attention suddenly snapped toward him. She shook her head with a sigh. "Making accusations like that isn't good. Lying is incredibly easy anyway, kid."

"I'm not a kid," Spade said with a grunt.

"Whatever, kid," Lois said while rolling her eyes. "Anyway, I can sense you have Numbers on you. I want them."

"Then come and get them!" Spade said before activating his duel disk.

The woman didn't even need to activate hers again. She simple stared at him dispassionately, with a slightly annoyed look discernible on her visage. It was as if all Spade was was a fly to her - and he practically was just that.

"Duel!" they both shouted.

* * *

Jenaveve found herself at a dead end. However, when she turned back around she saw thugs, not a wolf. Each were dressed in black. Each stood shoulder to shoulder, none diminutive compared to the other, none slimmer or fatter compared to the other.

"What's she doing around here?" The one on Jenaveve's left asked.

The one on her right shrugged. "I dunno. Might be trouble for our leader though. The direct one, not the Distributor. In fact, yeah, I think I recognize her from that picture N.D. showed us."

"Think she's the one picking our group off one by one?" the one on the left asked.

The one of the right shrugged. "She doesn't look the part, but looks can be deceiving. We have to make sure she doesn't get that Number fragment though." Then, they both raised a pistol up, only for a shadowy force to attack the one on the left.

"ARGGH!" he shouted as a dark aura enveloped him. He was suddenly thrown over a massive crate. What neither of them knew was that someone else heard the commotion. The second one looked back at Jenaveve, only for a yellow laser beam to hit his gun and knock it out of his hand. He gawked and Jenaveve looked behind her to see a teenage boy with very curly dark hair that cascaded down his head. He had sinister dark brown eyes, along with tan skin. His smirk reached from ear to ear.

"Who are you?" Jenaveve asked.

"Are you the one behind the murders!?" demanded the thug.

He sighed. "Now, now, be less vague. Which murders?"

The thug said, "Don't act dumb!"

"I know not to do that. That's your job. I don't want to leave you homeless." With a shrug he then said, "If it's about your stupid little club with its idiotic leader the Number Distributor, then yes, I might have something to do with that."

"GUYS! I FOUND THE KILLER! GET HIM!"

The teenager grunted before pointing a gun at the man. It was white with a blue streak along its sides. The gun had a long barrel. When it was fired it shot out a yellow beam which collided with the man's face, knocking him back into a crate.

"Laser gun! Who'd use regular?" The murderer asked like he was advertising. He then looked at Jenaveve. "I suppose we should run now." He then jumped up and climbed up a massive crate before putting his hand over the ledge so Jenaveve could grab it. Since she had no other choice, she grabbed his hand and he hoisted her up. They both then began running.

"Who are you!?" Jenaveve asked as they leaped off a crate and began running among a maze of crates.

Obviously, he couldn't reveal his real name, so he simply said, "I'm Nasch." Like anybody saw that guy in the past few years...

"I'm Jenaveve!" Jenaveve said.

"Oh, nice to meet you," Nasch said while they ran.

"Same," Jenaveve quickly replied. She then blinked.

"AM I ACTUALLY RUNNING WITH A KILLER!?"

* * *

Kaito was sitting down, his back to a create. His legs were outstretched while his hands rested on his kneecaps. He took intense breaths, trying to oxygenate himself from all the running he had to do.

Thoughts of worry and despair ran through his head. What if Jenaveve was in trouble? What if the Number Holder found her? What if... what if...?

He found himself sickened by the repugnant thoughts. However, the most blatant and powerful one he felt was shame. Shame that he couldn't protect his team. Shame that he ran away. Shame the he panicked. He, one of the calmest members of the number hunting group, actually lost his cool disposition.

With a grunt, he mustered the strength to pick himself back up again. He reaped souls. He hunted numbers. And first and foremost: He protected those who he loved. And protect them he would.

He stumbled forward for a few seconds before managing to obtain a natural posture fit for walking. He kept himself expressionless. Despite the thumping in his heart, he wasn't going to admit he was afraid. He couldn't afford to be. He never was able to.

And so with that, the search for Jenaveve began.

* * *

Spade didn't suffer from any dark feelings. He wasn't undergoing any emotional turmoil. However, he was going through a chaotic duel right now.

Spade: 2200

Lois: 3800

His Number stood guard in front of him. It possessed no overlay units, all having been removed due to Overlay Capture. He had no Set cards. On Lois' field was a flaming beast that was roughly in the shape of a bird.

"Number 22, attack," Lois said calmly. Flames rushed forwards onto Spade's field, consuming his number. Spade shielded himself from the blast with his arms. However, the attack knocked him off his feet.

"Bird Tamer Scarlet, attack directly."

Spade couldn't argue. He felt a burning sensation all around his body. How could he have lost like this!? It was the most disappointing loss he ever had to endure. His only hopes were that someone could avenge him.

Spade: 0

Then there was the sound of footsteps coming from nearby. Spade stopped focusing on his defeat, and tilted his head back so he could see who was approaching.

Lois stared into the darkness. She could make out a silhouette. Her eyebrows then wrinkled. Was that a second person?

And indeed it was. The small amount of illumination from the solitary window she was at gave enough light to make out the features of the two. Both contrasted each other. While one of them, a girl, was fair-skinned with green eyes and hair as pink as salmon's insides, the other was dark-eyed, tan-skinned, and he had dark curly hair. The girl's hair was well-kept, with four bangs hanging down her head, with two antennae-like hairs sloping down her back. The boy, on the other hand, had unclean hair that looked like he just came out of bed and didn't know hair hygiene existed. However, the main difference were there expressions. While the boy seemed fairly neutral and even relaxed, the girl looked thoroughly afraid.

Spade's pupils dilated. "Jenaveve!" he shouted. "And some other guy!"

Nasch then took notice of the boy on the floor. His eyebrows curved while he examined the fallen person. "Hm, a downed low-intelligence Earth hatchling..." Nasch then leaned his head up to stare at Lois. "You've been cleaning up," he noted.

"Let me guess; you two are his friends." She pointed down at Spade and awaited confirmation, only for Nasch to shake his head.

"No, no, he's not my friend. Feel free to shoot him or something, I wouldn't mind at all," Nasch casually said.

Jenaveve, however, was flabbergasted at what Nasch said. Her jaw dropped nearly to the floor before she yelled, "Nasch! That's my friend!"

"Well he's not mine!" Nasch shouted with a hint of exasperation. "You bloody cattle keep together like an uncivilized lot, then you wonder where the rest of your herd is after a stampede!"

Jenaveve was about to protest at his criticisms, until she thought about the cattle insult and took it to heart slightly. "Did you just call me a cow?" she asked.

He nodded energetically. "Yes! I did! I'm glad you can hear! You keep having your mouth open as if you're chewing your cud! I did hypothesize at one point that perhaps you just liked hearing yourself speak, but NO ONE would want to hear your voice for more than two seconds!"

Her jaw dropped again from indignation. She then picked it up and was about to say something, only for a finger to be pressed to her lips. Nasch then told her, "Nope! Nope! Shut-up! Shut-up! I care not to hear your voice again."

Lois felt irritated. "Look, what is it you two want? I've got numbers to hunt, you know."

Nasch's eyes widened. Jenaveve watched as the boy's eyes dilated. Suddenly, Jenaveve felt herself shoved to the side before there was a yellow beam that shot into the darkness. When it made contact with someone, there was a yell. Nasch was holding that same laser gun. He entered the darkness.

Jenaveve, Spade, and Lois all waited to hear what was going to happen next, only for the sound of puncturing and gurgling to fill the air. Then, ringing through the darkness was Nasch's voice. "Assassins! No respect for their victims! Gotta stop sneaking up, I swear."

Deathly silence filled the air again before the teenager walked out of the darkness with a bright smile. Not a sadistic one, but almost as if he just had a pleasant day. Nothing to bright or cheerful, but still bright enough to leave a radiant expression beaming on his face. There was some blood on his wrist and hand, but he ignored that.

Everybody else began blinking.

Spade asked, "...Did that just happen?"

Jenaveve blinked a few more times. She then shook her head and said, "Let's not think about that." Then, Nasch interrupted.

"So, I propose a duel. I want to take your numbers, crush the lesser insects, conquer the world, and get myself a lifetime supply of olives. This talking, while stupid, should not interrupt something as important as say a game of duel monsters." Nasch activated his duel disk. "I want this to be a three-way - get your minds out of the gutter, we are not staging a weird orgy here - between I, the girl, and the other girl with the numbers who is actually important. The girl and I share a general field, but we have separate life points. Other chick possesses 8000." He then pointed to Spade, "And you! You're important as well!"

"What do I do?" Spade asked.

"Pick up the Pokemon TCG. You'll probably be less of a noob at that."

Spade's face fell. Then it contorted in pain as silver cards flew out of his chest and into Lois' hand. She stared at the collection with little interest before pocketing them.

"The boy has nothing of concern. Maybe you'll be different. I accept."

The mechanical sound of three duel disk occurred while everyone activated theirs.

"Duel!"

Lois: 8000

Nasch: 4000

Jenaveve: 4000

Jenaveve looked at Nasch. "Alright, we'll need to cooperate on this to stay alive."

Nasch nodded. "Glad we agree. You'll be useful for Tribute fodder."

Jenaveve's expression changed once more to one of disbelief. Her mouth hung agape. Then, Nasch said another line.

"Close your mouth, you're going to swallow a fly at this rate, I mean, Jesus!"

* * *

Author's notes: Get used to "Nasch". He's going to be around here for a while.

Also, I didn't notice the contrast between the team players until I looked at Jenaveve's description on YCM Wiki and realized she was mostly a contrast to my character.

So, um yeah. Enjoy.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's notes: So, I've got a new RP called Grudge of Tragoedia in the Arc-V forums. You can go check that out.

* * *

"I'll go first," Lois said as she drew the top card of her Deck. She examined the six cards in her hand before saying, "Emerge, **Mermaid of the Steam Lake**."

Steam spontaneously emerged in front of Lois before it was pulled back like a curtain revealing the face of a fair mermaid whose green eyes glittered, even in the darkness. Her blue hair fell down her body like a waterfall. However, from her chest down her entire fish tail was made out of azure flames. The flames illuminated the room like a large candle.

Mermaid of Steam Lake: ATK: 1500 DEF: 200 Level: 4 FIRE Aqua

"It's made out of a fire... and it's a mermaid!" Jenaveve pointed out.

Nasch simply mused, "Ironic, isn't it?"

Lois removed another card from her hand before placing it on the field. "If I control a 'Steam Lake' monster, I can Special Summon this card from my hand. I Summon **Lyngbakr of the Steam Lake**."

More steam formed only to move and reveal a boulder. The rock came from the ceiling, which it has torn to pieces. The rock was made out of indigo flames.

Lyngbakr of the Steam Lake: ATK: 2000 DEF: 200 Level: 5 FIRE Aqua

"It's just a rock," Jenaveve said.

"Actually, that's just the stomach of a humongous whale," Lois said. "It's too big for us to see here."

"I would just have said spoilers, but okay," Nasch said with a nod. "So long as I don't have to pay to fix the ceiling, I'm good..."

"Mermaid's effect allows me to increase her level by one," Lois declared. Four stars appeared above Mermaid, only to be engulfed by flames. The fire immediately faded away to reveal another star.

"I overlay my two level five 'Steam Lake' monsters," Lois began. Mermaid turned bright orange while Lyngbakr became an energy blob of dark red. A red spiral Xyz Portal appeared in front of Lois before both masses of energy danced around each other then entered the portal. A multitude of colors exploded from the portal.

"Xyz Summon, **Cherufe of the Steam Lake**."

The steam that appeared spiraled into existence, forming a staff-like shape. Then, that staff adopted red eyes. The rest of the staff faded away to reveal a muscular human body made entirely out of black stone except the face. The face was light gray granite with a pair of red eyes glowing from the center of them. The veins of the monster were pronounced as they were streams of lava that ran through the body.

Cherufe of the Steam Lake: ATK: 2400 DEF: 1950 Rank: 5 FIRE Pyro (2)

"I detach an overlay unit from Cherufe to add one FIRE monster from my Deck or Graveyard to my hand, and I choose Lyngbakr."

A red overlay orb that orbited Cherufe rammed into its chest, causing the glare of the being to intensify along with the lava veins running through its body. A card popped out of the Deck slot in Lois' duel disk and she grabbed it before revealing it to be another copy of Lyngbakr. Her adversaries took note to look at the card art, and indeed it was a big whale.

"I'll set a card and end my turn," Lois said.

Jenaveve looked at the set card suspiciously. She could've done so much more, Jenaveve thought, so maybe that card's a trick...

She then gasped as she felt her power building up into her left hand. Everyone stared as the girl's hand turned a vibrant pink. Then Jenaveve smirked.

"Destiny Draw!" She declared as she ripped off the top card of her Deck. Sure enough it was her Rank-Up-Magic card.

She grabbed an entirely different card in her hand and placed that down. "I Normal Summon Constellar Pollux!"

Two swords slashed at the air as Pollux appeared. The monster was vertically halved into two sides: One ornate, with spikes adorned the gauntlet, knee pads, and should pads. The armor was predominately white with gold accents. The other half, on the other hand, looked entirely granite, as if it was partly sculpture. A dull shield was wielded by the left side of the warrior.

Constellar Pollux: ATK: 1700 DEF: 600 Level: 4 LIGHT Warrior

Jenaveve took another card from her hand and declared, "Since Pollux was Normal Summoned, I get to Summon another Constellar. I Summon Constellar Algiedi!" Pollux's swords glowed sky blue as the new arrival came.

A relatively thin woman appeared. Her knees, hands, armpits, and elbows were clearly seen through the armor. The armor around her waist was sectioned and clearly separated her lower half from her upper half. The pants of the armor were a dull light blue while the armor underneath the knees was white until it came to her light blue shoes. The upper part of her armor contained the classic "Constellar" insignia placed upon her chest. The spellcaster held a staff from which to perform her magic from.

Constellar Algeidi: ATK: 1600 DEF: 1400 Level: 4 LIGHT Spellcaster

"Now, since Algiedi was Normal Summoned, I get to Special Summon Constellar Acubens from my hand!" Algeidi's staff glowed sky blue as Jenaveve placed down another Constellar Monster.

A massive machine appeared. It had two bulky gauntlets that ended with golden pincers. They led up to oblong shoulder pads that went to a questionably small head. The torso of the monster also had the Constellar symbol imprinted upon it.

Constellar Acubens: ATK: 800 DEF: 2000 Level: 4 LIGHT Machine

The golden symbol began glowing on Acubens while all Constellars adopted a sky blue aura.

"I increase the ATKs of all face-up Constellar monsters by 500 with Acubens' effect!" Jenaveve declared.

Constellar Pollux: 1700 - 2200

Constellar Algiedi: 1600 - 2100

Constellar Acubens: 800 - 1300.

"Now, I overlay my three level four Constellar Monsters!" Jenaveve declared as all of them became amorphous forms of energy. They then shot into the air before spiraling around each other. They entered a galaxy-style Xyz portal that exploded thunderously before revealing a predominately gold horse. There was an extra torso attached to the horse's - that of a humans. That tose had a cloak that could very well have mapped all the stars in the galaxy. The human wore a helmet that had two horns protruding from it. Upon the person's torso was the symbol of Constellar monsters and above that was a lavender Number 43.

"Xyz Summon, _Number 43: Sacred Persei_!"

Number 43: Sacred Persei: ATK: 2600 DEF: 1900 Rank: 4 LIGHT Beast-Warrior (3)

"And now I activate _Rank-Up-Magic - Sacred Star Formation_!"

"Rank-Up!?" Nasch asked as he looked at Jenaveve. Lois was stunned at first, but quickly recollected her composure.

The monster became gold and white energy before rocketing into space.

"I Rank-Up my Number 43: Sacred Persei. Stellar... Xyz... CHANGE"

The energy blob shot into a large Constellar symbol that shone brightly in the night sky. When the overlaid mass hit the symbol, there was an explosion of gold and white light. A lone pink star was in the vast darkness of deep space before it shot a white beam at another star. That beam was returned, only to an entirely different star. This process repeated, forming a constellation.

"Clairvoyant formation of the starry sky... feel my light and assume your true form... Descend Number 43..."

Above the newly created constellation was a deep purple Number 43. From above the constellation, a ray of light raced down. The light was powerful and intense, nearly blinding the duelists. An egg-shaped creature formed from the light, made entirely from gold and silver metal. The constellation formed by the Rank-Up-Magic card was also upon the shell of the egg.

The eardrums of the duelists were greeted by the sound of cracking, before the entire egg shattered. The new monster had an inverse color scheme of the previous one. A golden human body was attached to a silver horse body. From the horse's back were wings that looked like starry webbing. A flowing golden tail came out of the backside of the horse.

"Reveal thy form."

A silver Constellar Symbol adorned the belly of the horse, and above it was a Number 43. The horns of the monster were also silver and were now three-pronged like a trident. The inside of the body contained a white light which meant it may have been hollow inside except for the internal photons it hosted.

"SACRED PERSEUS!"

Glowing from the helmet were blue eyes. The starlight created by the constellations converged to form a weapon of solid starlight: A claymore sword that was gold and silver. The tip of the sword and the hilt were star-pointed. Perseus swung the sword with a roar. Four overlay units circled it.

_Number S43: Sacred Perseus_: ATK: 2800 DEF: 2400 Rank: 5 LIGHT Beast-Warrior (4)

As an overlay unit raced into Perseus, Jenaveve proclaimed, "By detaching an Xyz Material from my monster I get to Special Summon Constellar Pleiades from the Extra Deck!"

A beam of light struck the field, assaulting the visual receptors of all duelists before an armor clad warrior appeared. They wore pearl-white armor with aurum and dark blue accents. Covering their entire head was a sectioned helmet. The cloak the monster wore showed deep space on the inside and on the outside was just a white coat with golden rims. A sole yellow overlay unit orbited the monster.

Constellar Pleiades: ATK: 2500 DEF: 1500 Rank: 5 LIGHT Warrior (1)

"I detach an overlay unit from Pleiades," Jenaveve declared. An overlay unit landed into the hand of Pleiades. Pleiades arched their hand before throwing the unit like a ball, only it became a concentrated stream of what looked like electricity. "The effect of Pleiades allows me to return one monster you control to the hand."

Jenaveve then pointed at Cherufe. "And I choose Cherufe!"

The beam of electricity struck Cherufe's chest, making it give a might roar before it burst into yellow particles that were absorbed into the Extra Deck of Lois.

Constellar Pleiades: 1 - 0

"Very well then," Lois said. "Now your biggest threat is gone. Also, the other effect of Cherufe activates. If it was removed from the field while it had an overlay unit, I get to Special Summon 'Steam Lake' monsters from my Graveyard equal to the amount of overlay units he had. I Summon Lyngbakr."

The massive whale appeared again. The duelists only got to see the underside of it unfortunately because it was a rather huge whale.

Lyngbakr of the Steam Lake: ATK: 2000 DEF: 200 Level: 5 FIRE Aqua

Jenaveve grunted. "I end my turn. Nasch, it's your move!"

Nasch nodded and drew a card. "I draw." He looked at his hand of six cards and smiled. "What a wonderful hand! I'll start off by Tributing Jenaveve's Number S43 for 'Prime Material Dragon'!"

"Great! - Wait, what?" Jenaveve asked. Her monster sank into a portal and from the same portal emerged a bright yellow dragon with glossy scales and red eyes. The dragon had six wings jutting from its body.

Prime Material Dragon: ATK: 2400 DEF: 2000 Level: 6 LIGHT Dragon

Jenaveve suddenly began screeching at Nasch. "WHY DID YOU TRIBUTE MY MONSTER!?"

Nasch looked at her in disbelief. "Don't you realize your only reason to be in this duel is for Tribute fodder? You think I'll help your degenerate strategies? You simply exist just to fuel ME!"

Jenaveve glared at him. "We're supposed to be partners!"

"I may have accepted that proposition, but then I found out I was dueling with an idiot!" Nasch shouted. "What in the world possessed you not to make Pleiades into something useful like Ptolemy M7? Oh, and that Rank-Up-Magic has got to go. It nearly made my eyeballs burst into flames and I have this stabbing feeling in my cranium that low-intelligent Earth hatchlings like you call a 'headache'! This headache is due to your... Incredible Rank-Up-Magic. Either that or your profound abundance of stupidity!"

Lois and the fallen Spade could only stare at both Jenaveve and Nasch, the former of which held a surprised expression while the latter held a look of contempt. Suddenly, Nasch' expression changed to a brighter one as he said, "Now, anyway, I activate Hologram Projection!"

Prime Material Dragon was outlined with green. That outline separated to form its own monster. "Basically, this becomes a Spell Monster with the same stats as Prime Material Dragon."

Hologram Projection: ATK: 2400 DEF: 2000 Level: 6 LIGHT Dragon.

"Now, I overlay both of my level six Dragon-Type monsters together," Nasch began. Prime Material Dragon glowed bright yellow while Hologram Projection became bright orange. Both shot up into a red spiral Xyz portal. "I Xyz Summon Hieratic Dragon King of Atum!"

From the sky emerged a dark purple dragon whose scales glittered as if miniature stars were inside of itself. The dragon donned golden armor covering its long thin tail, its thighs, chest, elbows, and even its wings somewhat. A sense of authority emanated from the dragon who had two yellow overlay units satellite it.

Hieratic Dragon King of Atum: ATK: 2400 DEF: 2100 Rank: 6 LIGHT Dragon-Type (2)

"I detach an overlay unit from it," Nasch declared as the dragon chomped down on a nearby overlay unit. "I get to Special Summon 1 Dragon-Type monster from my Deck, but its ATK and DEF become 0. I choose Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon."

Then, a pulsating red form of a dragon appeared in the sky. The aura around the dragon faded away only to reveal a mostly black dragon with dark red accents. The dragons body was mostly metallic, as hinted at by its name. It has a powerful tail which it flicked around upon Summon. It gave a mighty roar.

Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon: ATK: 0 DEF: 0 Level: 10 DARK Dragon

"Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon's effect allows me to Special Summon a Dragon-Type monster from my Graveyard, and I choose the Prime Material Dragon attached to Atum."

There was an eruption of pulsating red energy from the ground. Within that energy was a silhouetted figure. As the energy left the creature like lava from an eruption, it revealed the figure to be Prime Material Dragon who gave a shrill roar.

Prime Material Dragon: ATK: 2400 DEF: 2000 Level: 6 LIGHT Dragon

"Amazing," Jenaveve said. "You practically lost nothing so far besides Hologram Projection!"

Nasch nodded. "You know, if Lois had Maxx 'C', I'd be screwed right now... Anyway, time for more dragon spam Summoning. So, I activate A Wingbeat of Giant Dragon, which allows me to return Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon to my hand to destroy all Spell and Trap cards on the field."

The dragon gave a might flap of its wings, uncovering Lois' set Card - Mirror Force - which made her grunt.

"You have to be the most horrible player ever to Set a card that you won't have the possibility of needing for several turns." Nasch shook his head. "There's a reason why I've got a fangirl already and you don't."

Lois' expression didn't change or falter. She just kept the same cold glare she had for most of the duel.

"Anyway, I activate Xyz Jewelled Crown. This allows me to give Atum a level and count it as if it was two monsters for Xyz Summons. I overlay Atum with itself." The Dragon became a bright red oblong-shaped energy form that shot into the sky before spiraling down into a red portal.

"I Xyz Summon Gauntlet Launcher!"

A block metallic warrior appeared. It had mostly crimson metal decorating itself, but also had some dark grey metal around the inside of the crotch and legs. Its feet looked like they were bolted into the floor. It had two white hands.

Gauntlet Launcher: ATK: 2400 DEF: 2800 Rank: 6 EARTH Warrior (1)

"I detach an overlay unit from Gauntlet Launcher," Nasch declared. An overlay unit entered the monster's chest before several fireballs were fired from the cannons on its back. "I destroy Lyngbakr."

The fireballs arched upward, and they curved to hit Lyngbakr dead center on its stomach. When the fireballs collided, a massive explosion occurred, causing intense shockwaves to attack all players, knocking Jenaveve off of her feet. Nasch and Lois remained steadfast, however.

"Since Gauntlet Launcher has served its purpose, I overlay it with itself to Xyz Summon Gaia Dragon, the Thunder Charger." Gauntlet Launcher became a crimson mass of energy which shot up into the now cloudy skies. When it entered a cloud stylized to look like a portal, there was the sound of thunder as light and lightning exploded from the portal. Descending from the storm clouds was a brightly colored dragon jockey.

The dragon was skeletal white with vibrant red armor. A scythe came from underneath the dragon. The dragon's tail ended abruptly.

The warrior riding the dragon wore bright armor in various hues, from crimson to lime green. Instead of having hands, he had two green lances instead.

Gaia Dragon, the Thunder Charger: ATK: 2600 DEF: 2100 Rank: 7 WIND Dragon (1)

"I set two cards then end my turn," Nasch said, setting two of the remaining three cards from his hand. "It's your move."

Lois removed the top card of her Deck and added it to her hand which now boasted five cards in size. "I draw..."

* * *

Kaito wandered around, lost among crates the size of human beings. Each wooden cube seemed to have been next to one another just to create a maze more confusing than the one the minotaur was in. Kaito began praying.

"If I can see Jenaveve alive once again, I promise to forgive Spade for breaking Orbital-"

He then suddenly remembered back to that day...

* * *

Orbital was on top of the railings of a bridge. Orbital was scanning something upon a cliff when suddenly a speedy blue zipped close to him. However, it was too close for comfort as said blur accidentally hit Orbital, knocking the robot over while screaming all the way.

* * *

Kaito grunted. "On second thought, I'll simply stop punching him." He then quickly added, "In the face."

As Kaito continued walking around he noticed a dark cloud of mist. He squinted his eyes in curiousity as he went closer and closer to the mist cloud.

The cloud suddenly formed into a rough coherent shape of a wolf. There was a cloud of darkness around the wolf like a cloud. The hackles of the hound raised up as it growled at Kaito.

Kaito backed up and said, "Hey! I'm just looking for my girlfriend!"

The canine's body relaxed as it sat down on its haunches. The head of the wolf was tilted into an angle that showed it was curious.

"...Are you looking for someone too?" Kaito asked. "I mean, do you have a master or something?"

The wolf suddenly stood up and nodded.

"Maybe we should join together to find them?" Kaito suggested.

The wolf wagged its tail and nodded before it walked off in the same direction Kaito came from, showing it wanted to be the leader. Kaito sighed and followed it.

What kind of a madhouse am I in right now? Kaito thought to himself.

* * *

"First of all, I activate Rekindling." Lois plucked a card from her hand and placed it into her Spell/Trap Card Zone.

"The ace FIRE Deck card," Nasch mused.

"Why is that?" Jenaveve asked.

"Simple, it Special Summons all FIRE monsters in her Graveyard with 200 DEF. A very narrow window seemingly, but most FIRE Decks have a monster with that amount of DEF, even things like Jurracs."

A veil of fire formed in front of Lois. The harsh flames flickered around wildly and dangerously, as if waiting to strike out like a venomous snake. "I Special Summon both Lyngbakr and Mermaid."

Both monsters emerged from the flames. This time they got to see lyngbakr before it crashed through the roof, utterly uprooting it.

Mermaid of the Steam Lake: ATK: 1500 DEF: 200 Level: 4 FIRE Aqua

Lyngbakr of the Steam Lake: ATK: 2000 DEF: 200 Level: 5 FIRE Aqua

"I now Special Summon a second Lyngbakr," Lois said. The duelists weren't even able to see the second whale. They just had to assume it was there. "Since I control one or more face-up level 5 FIRE monsters on the field, I can Normal Summon this card without Tributes. Appear now, **Lotan of the Steam Lake**."

There wasn't any steam this time, but the flames left by Rekindling turned purple and merged together to form a seven-headed serpent. The serpent has yellow eyes with black cat-like irises.

Lotan of the Steam Lake: ATK: 2400 DEF: 200 Level: 5 FIRE Aqua

"Next, Mermaid's effect."

Mermaid of the Steam Lake: 4 - 5

"Here it comes..." Nasch whispered to himself.

Lois threw her arms into the air. "I overlay my four level five monsters together!" In the sky the storm clouds swirled around. Red streaks appeared in the sky and it became apparent they were flames. Both Lygnbakrs turned red, Mermaid turned bright orange, and Lotan became yellow. All shot up into the sky, leaving streams of fire behind them as they rocketed towards the portal. The danced and spiraled around each other before entering the fiery cloud. An explosion occurred and flames and ash were scattered from the skies.

Flares of fire came striking down at Lois' opponents, causing Jenaveve to scream whenever one struck too close to her. Nasch began coughing as he inhaled fumes from the smoke of the fire.

The entire sky became crimson, as if the heavens themselves were ignited on fire. A curtain of flames seemed to form like an aurora, only for that aurora to be spread out - revealing itself to be a wing. A similar aurora appeared only to unfold as well. The insides of the wings looked like there was blue flames painted on top of the wing while the rest of the wing was ash black. Both wings were connected to a massive bird.

The torso of the bird was mostly crimson. The feathers seemed to have been made out of fire. A band of yellow flames separated the torso in half horizontally.

The bird had purple eyes that stared down at its adversaries. A gray beak was attached to a vibrant orange head. A "v" made from yellow flames started on the forehead of the bird only to jut out past the head.

The bottom half of the bird was also crimson red, from its crotch all the way down to its undertail coverts. The underside of the tail-feathers were ash black, but it could also be ascertained that the top of the fiery avian's tail-feathers were dark blue, like extremely hot flames.

The bird's talons were several people long and were sharp and dark gray.

The entire bird, from head to talons was at least the size of a skyscraper. The bird's body illuminated and heated up so much, Nasch and Jenaveve thought they would burst into flames at any second.

The floor of the room they were in was entirely wrecked. Flames were scattered all over it, and these were real flames, not just solid vision ones. The entire bird's brightness could rival that of a sun.

"I Xyz Summon **Number 22: Imperial Firebird**..."

* * *

Cardex:

Mermaid of the Steam Lake (1500/200/4/FIRE/Aqua)  
Effect: Once per turn: You can increase the level of this card by one.

Lyngbakr of the Steam Lake (2000/200/5/FIRE/Aqua)  
Effect: If you control a face-up "Steam Lake" monster, you can Special Summon this card (from your hand).

Lotan of the Steam Lake (2400/200/5/FIRE/Aqua)  
Effect: If this card is Special Summoned: Halve its ATK. You can Normal Summon this card without Tributes if you control 1 face-up "Steam Lake" monster.

Number 22: Imperial Firebird (Not/Telling/You/Because/Spoilers)  
Effect: [Redacted]

Number 43: Sacred Persei (Made by VileEXE)  
Rank 4 LIGHT Beast-Warrior/Xyz  
ATK: 2600/DEF: 1900  
3 level 4 monsters  
Once per turn, detach 1 Xyz Material from this card: Special Summon 1 "Constellar" Xyz Monster from your Extra Deck and attach the detached card to that monster as an Xyz Material. (This Special Summon is treated as an Xyz Summon.)

Rank-Up-Magic - Sacred Star Formation (Made by VileEXE)  
Target 1 face-up "Constellar" or "Number" Xyz Monster you control; Special Summon from your Extra Deck, 1 "Constellar" monster with the same Type as that monster you control but 1 Rank higher, by using it as the Xyz Material. (This Special Summon is treated as an Xyz Summon. Xyz Materials attached to it also become Xyz Materials on the Summoned monster.) During your Main Phase: You can banish 1 Xyz Monster from your Graveyard; add this card from your Graveyard to your hand.

Number S43: Sacred Perseus (Made by VileEXE)  
Rank 5 LIGHT Beast-Warrior/Xyz  
ATK: 2800/DEF: 2400  
4 level 5 monsters  
Cannot be Special Summoned, except with "Rank-Up-Magic - Sacred Star Formation". Cards not on the field cannot activate their effects, and any active effects of cards not on the field are negated. If "Number 43: Sacred Persei" is attached to this card as an Xyz Material, it gains this effect:  
*Once per turn, you can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; Special Summon 1 Rank 6 Xyz Monster from your Extra Deck or Graveyard and attach the detached card to that monster as an Xyz Material. (This Special Summon is treated as an Xyz Summon.) It is treated as a LIGHT monster.

* * *

Author's notes: I'll be honest, the main reason I updated this was so that way the author's notes could contain an advertisement about my RP thread because I'm degenerate like that.

Anyway, here is "Nasch" and Lois' Decks.

Kaito has met up with someone who will be important later. Someone who he should know as you'll find out (not in this story, but much much later.)

This chapter was a pain to write. I'll be honest, I didn't really understand Vile's descriptions of the 43s, so I guesstimated.

Also, note, for the cards Vile made, I only used his PSCT and stuff. All of the PSCT flaws were made by him, not me.

Also, I apparently made the BECAUSE Attribute and Spoilers-Type. Yay?

Oh, and vote for who has the cooler Summon: 43 or 22?


End file.
